NEW YORK - The No. 9 Columbia men's squash team and No. 4
Cornell went head-to-head in a closely contested match Sunday at the SL Green
StreetSquash Center, the home of Columbia squash. The match remained up in the
air until the final three matches, but it would be Cornell that would come away
with the 5-4 victory.

In the No. 3 position, Columbia's Mohamed AbdelMaksoud
played a thriller of a match, capturing a five-set win over Owen Butler.
AbdelMaksoud went down 2-1 after three games of action, but rallied to win the
final two sets and pick up the victory, 11-6, 4-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-6.

Alex Nalle and Alec Goldberg both found their way's out of
early deficits in the No. 9 and 7 matches, respectively. Nalle lost a nail
biter in the first game of his match, 12-10, but then strung together three
straight 11-4 winning games to capture the No. 9 match. Goldberg also played a
tight first set, but was on the wrong side of an 11-9 score. The junior
recovered though and won the next three sets, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, for the win.

Ramit Tandon locked up Columbia's fourth point in the No. 1
position, winning the first two games against Nick Sachive, before he retired.

Outside of the No. 1 match, each court pitted what looked to
be equivalent talent against one another. Columbia avoided being swept in any
of the matches Sunday with most games being decided by just a few points.

Columbia will take the remainder of December off from
competition. The Lions next match will come at home Jan. 12, 2013, when the
Brown Bears visit the City of New York.